Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-Kaisha

Pitney Bowes Inc.

Hideaki Haigo

Kiyoharu Hayakawa

Yoshinori Endo

The invention includes an ink feeder in which bubbles are securely separated from ink, ink promptly flows in each ink chamber and ink hardly including bubbles is smoothly supplied to a print head. Partition walls that form multiple ink chambers by partitioning a casing are provided with upper communicating parts which allow the movement of air in each upper part of the ink chambers, and lower communicating holes which allow the movement of ink in each lower part of the ink chambers. An ink supply port, the lower communicating holes of the partition walls and an ink outlet are arranged so that they are not aligned, and disposed so that ink meanders in the ink subtank. An air communicating hole and an ink sensor that detects the quantity of ink are provided in one ink chamber of the multiple ink chambers. An ink outlet that ejects ink to the print head is further formed in the ink chamber. It is detected whether or not ink is required to be supplied from the main ink tank to the ink subtank by detecting the quantity of ink in the ink chamber by the ink sensor. Even if an ink film is formed in the upper communicating parts and the other ink chambers each become a closed space, a state in which the ink chamber communicates with the air is secured and the quantity of ink can be detected without difficulty.

Ink feeder

An ink-cartridge package includes a packaging bag. The packaging bag has a maximum packaging volume V,which is smaller than or equal to twice a volume V,of an ink cartridge to be packed (V,2V,). When the ink cartridge is packed in the packaging bag, the packaging bag contains a volume of air that is 10% to 30% of the volume of the ink cartridge. The air contained in the packaging bag operates as an air cushion, which can efficiently prevent the ink cartridge from cracking or breaking due to impacts even if no shock absorber is inserted between the ink cartridge and the packaging bag. The packaging bag can be folded at the edge portions so as to be easily transported. Since no extra materials or extra steps are required, the cost of manufacturing the ink-cartridge package is relatively low.

Package for ink cartridge and method for manufacturing the same

An ink-cartridge package comprises a packaging bag. This packaging bag has a resin layer inside the bag, the resin layer being meltable and adherent to the ink cartridge. A portion of the packaging bag is stuck onto areas around the ink supply hole and the air hole on the ink cartridge surface by a heat sealing process in a peelable manner, whereby the ink supply hole and the air hole are sealed. The opening of the packaging bag is sealed, and a tear notch is formed in this heat-sealed edge at a position closer to the air hole than to the ink supply hole in order to allow the packaging bag to be opened from the air hole side. The packaging bag functions as both an enclosure of the ink cartridge and a sealing member for sealing the ink supply hole and the air hole of the ink cartridge, whereby the number of parts used in the package is reduced. In addition, this package can prevent the ink from scattering in an area surrounding the packaging bag when the ink cartridge is removed from the bag.

An ink jet recording device includes an ink tank,and a print head,connected together by a circulation channel. The circulation channel is formed from the ink tank,ink supply tubes,a manifold,of a print head, and ink collection tubes,An ink circulation pump,is disposed along the ink supply tube,for performing a circulation purge, wherein ink is forcibly circulated ink through the circulation channel. During circulation purge, the rotational direction of the ink circulation pump,is reversed for a short period of time, so that ink flows in a direction opposite of the normal flow direction. As a result, air bubbles are loosened from where they cling on the side surfaces of the ink channel. Because the air bubbles are more easy to remove, the air bubbles are removed by flow of ink during the circulation purge. The air bubbles are transported to and collected in the ink tank, whereupon they separate from the ink due to their buoyancy.

Ink jet recording device with ink circulating unit

An ink jet recorder includes an ink jet head that is movable in the vertical direction, an ink tank for supplying ink to the head, a detector for detecting the position of the head in the vertical direction, and a moving device for raising and lowering the ink tank. The ink tank moving device changes the vertical position of the ink tank in response to vertical positions of the head detected by the detector. The ink tank moving device is made up of a rack attached to the tank, a pinion gear, and a pinion drive motor. The pressure on the ink supplied to the ink jet head from the ink tank can be made more or less constant, irrespective of the height position of the ink jet head, so that good printing performance can be secured.

Ink jet recorder

A liquid container disclosed herein prevents the spattering of ink at the time of peeling a sealing member from a seal surface. A peeling end portion is devised such that the peeling load F gradually decreases as the peeling proceeds over first and second seal surfaces toward an end. The peeling load needs to gradually decrease over a peel ending distance at a rate of at most 0.02 kgf/mm. Such a low peeling load-decreasing rate is realized by gradual width reductions of an end portion of the seal surface, or by predetermining the manner of adhesion between the sealing member and the seal surface, such that the adhesion force per unit area gradually decreases with the progress toward an end of the seal surface. Such slow and gradual reductions in adhesion force allow a user who peels the sealing member to correspondingly adjust the speed of peeling hand movement in a final stage of the peeling. Therefore, at the time when the sealing member finally separates from the seal surface, the sealing member held by the user has been sufficiently loosened back so that substantially no backlash occurs. The spattering of ink from the sealing member and the staining of the surrounding area are thereby prevented.

Sealing member for liquid container

The position of the ink supply port 4b formed in the front wall 4k of the cartridge case 4, through which ink is supplied to the ink jet recording head 5, is determined to be higher than the position of the through hole 4h for connecting the ink storing chamber 4e and the accommodating chamber 4g accommodating the porous member 4f, thereby producing a height difference between the two positions. The ink flow passage R formed in the ink in the ink storing chamber 4e between the through hole 4h and the ink supply port 4b includes two curve parts R2 and R4. The air bubbles remaining in the ink flowing along the ink flow passage R are released from the ink at the curve parts R2 and R4 is respectively and gather into air bubbles B that are masses of small air bubbles, which are accumulated in the air accumulating space 14 formed at un upper portion of the ink storing chamber 4e.

Ink cartridge

An ink cartridge is designed with a reduced number of component parts without deteriorating functions to prevent ink leakage and to detect ink depletion. The ink cartridge has an ink chamber including a foam holding chamber for holding a foam member saturated with ink to be supplied to the print heads and an ink holding chamber for holding ink to be supplied to the foam member. The ink chamber has ink filler ports for filling the ink chamber with ink and electrically conductive plug members, which are exposed to the ink chamber. The plug members close the ink filler ports and detect ink depletion in the ink chamber based on changes in electrical resistance between the plug members.

Ink cartridge and ink jet printer that detects ink depletion

An ink cartridge for use in an ink jet printer includes a cartridge body and a lid. The cartridge body has an ink reservoir storing ink therein, arid is in a box-shape having one open surface. The lid is fixedly secured to the open surface of the cartridge body to hermetically seal the opern surface. The cartridge body is provided with a secondary housing formed with a hole open to atmosphere. In the secondary housing, inner walls are formed which define a communication channel of a labyrinthine structure for making a fluid communication between the ink reservoir and an outside atmosphere through the hole. The provision of such a communication channel smoothens the supply of ink to a print head but the labyrinthine structure prevents the ink evaporation.

Ink cartridge having an atmosphere communicating channel of labyrinthine

An ink jet printing system includes a print head, a reservoir of ink and a device for adjusting the level of ink in the reservoir. The print head is translatable between a first print position having a first elevation and a second print position having a second elevation. The reservoir is operatively coupled with the print head for supplying ink to the print head and is remotely located from the print head. The adjusting device regulates the ink level depending upon the position of the print head so that a predetermined back pressure is maintained at the print head in both the first print position and the second print position.

Mailing machine including an ink jet printer having back pressure

An ink supply port to supply ink to a print head is formed on an ink tank, and a filter is provided along the inside surface of the ink tank with an ink foam member arranged therein. The ink foam member has a convex shaped portion where it confronts the filter. Thus, in operation, the convex portion is compressed and firmly contacts with the filter with a uniform pressure. The ink absorbed in the foam member is moved by capillary action from an uncompressed portion to a dense compressed portion of the foam member, which is the convex portion. Then, the ink absorbed in the foam member is transferred into a ink room provided in the ink tank by the capillary action of the filter. The ink is then supplied to the ink jet head through a hollow needle inserted into the ink room.

Ink supply device

A heat fixing apparatus fixes a transferred image onto a sheet with application of heat. A heat generating device is provided in a housing, and has a plurality of divided heaters for generating heat. A plurality of sensors are provided in the housing to detect temperatures corresponding to individual heaters. A temperature control unit controls the individual heaters respectively corresponding to the temperatures detected by the sensors.

Heat fixing apparatus

A filter unit includes a plurality of filter members, a filter drive mechanism, and a switching mechanism. One of the filter members is continuously engaged with the filter drive mechanism, so that it is moved toward and away from an optical path extending between an exposure light source and an image recording medium. On the other hand, remaining filter members are selectively engageable with the filter drive mechanism. This selective engagement is provided by the switching mechanism. After remaining one of the filters is selected and engaged with the filter drive mechanism, the selected filter is moved toward the optical path. In this instance, the filter member always engageable with the filter drive mechanism is retracted from the optical path.

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Hideaki Haigo